Non facts and figures

2GB's Alan Jones and the Herald Sun don't let pesky facts get in the way of telling a good story.

Alan Jones: Well, an election’s been called ... But the anger out there about the likely fairness or unfairness of an election is palpable. Your correspondence has been overwhelming on basically the issue, all the time, electoral fraud. As I’ve said on many occasions in the last month, 16,000 voters got away with voting more than once in the 2010 cliffhanger federal election. 16,000. As many people have said, the electoral system is a scandalous shambles ...

— 2GB, The Alan Jones Breakfast Show, 5th August, 2013

Hello, I’m Paul Barry, welcome to Media Watch.

And as the old saying goes, you should never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Especially when you can smell a conspiracy.

In the run up to the election campaign, Sydney shock jock Alan Jones worked himself into a lather over electoral fraud and how it might have allowed Labor to steal the last election

Alan Jones: More than 16,000 voters got away with voting more than once at the 2010 election campaign. Nothing done about it. Perhaps they’re even trying to stop us from talking about it. And can someone tell me if they voted more than once, who did they vote for? Because those votes were illegal and should have been removed from the tally. Was someone elected fraudulently to the prime ministership as a result?

— 2GB, The Alan Jones Breakfast Show, 29th July, 2013

The 16,000 figure came from a listener to Jones’s program who had read it in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph in 2011. And it sounds like a lot.

But it’s only around 1 in 1000 of the 13 million people who voted in that election.

And as the Australian Electoral Commission had already twice told parliament, it was also wrong.

Alan Jones: 16,000. This was a knife-edged election campaign. Who did those people vote for? Were those votes withdrawn from the total at the end? No they weren't, because no one knows who the votes were recorded in favour of. Give us a call, 131 873, this is the Australia we live in, can you believe it?

— 2GB, The Alan Jones Breakfast Show, 29th July, 2013

Can you believe it?

At no stage did Jones put his conspiracy theory to the AEC or ask them if the figure of 16,000 was correct.

But eventually his 2GB stable mate Chris Smith did just that.

And the AEC advised him that most of the so-called fraud was actually clerical error

Phil Diak: Well, once we whittled it down at the last election and went through a range of other checks, it got down to less than ten votes per seat, so that's about 1500 confirmed votes are multiple voting nationally.

— 2GB, The Chris Smith Afternoon Show, 5th August, 2013

Now 1500 is less than one-tenth of the figure that Jones had been using.

Even more to the point, ten votes per seat compares with the smallest winning margin in the election of 771 votes in Corangamite.

So there is no way fraud could have stolen the election.

But five days later, after 2GB News had also killed his conspiracy theory, Jones was back on air howling about the scandal

Alan Jones: As I’ve said on many occasions in the last month, 16,000 voters got away with voting more than once in the 2010 cliffhanger federal election. 16,000. As many people have said, the electoral system is a scandalous shambles ...

— 2GB, The Alan Jones Breakfast Show, 5th August, 2013

Now what makes this more interesting is that 2GB recently did a deal with the radio and TV watchdog the ACMA to make sure Jones gets his facts right.

As part of the settlement, 2GB agreed to run extra fact checks on Jones’s material before it goes to air and give him basic journalism training.

It does not seem to us that Jones has learnt much.

Nor does it appear that the system is working.

But Labor stealing the 2010 election went down a treat with Jones’s audience, so why let the facts get in the way?

And while we’re on this subject, let’s have a look at another riveting example.

Host: 96 900 693, 96 900 693. Come and join us on the Rumour File this morning. Station Stoush. Good morning.

Caller: Good morning guys. My rumour is fact ...

— 3AW, Breakfast with Ross and John, 20th August, 2013

Melbourne’s 3AW doesn’t even pretend to check if stories are true before putting them in its daily Rumour File, broadcast on Breakfast with Ross and John at 7.07 every weekday morning.

The Rumour File is one of Melbourne's most listened to segments. And the star of The Rumour File is YOU!

— 3AW website

And this experiment in crowd sourcing allows the station to tell some ripping yarns ... like the story of how two armed Protective Service Officers or PSOs recently attacked each other on a busy Melbourne railway station

Caller: Another officer tries to break them up – this is all with an audience of onlookers on the station. The capsicum spray comes out, they’re spraying each other. The other officer calls VicPol, they come to back up ... | to break it up.

Host: Never have I wished so much in my life for a rumour to be true.

Caller: It is.

— 3AW, Breakfast with Ross and John, 20th August, 2013

Yes, if it’s not true it certainly should be, because the police breaking up a fight like that on a crowded railway platform would have to be front page news

Host: It’s the shootout at OK Corral. It’s like the man who shot Liberty Valance with capsicum spray....

Host: Station Stoush, stay on the line. Never in the field of human conflict have I wanted a rumour to be more true.

YOUR COMMENTS

Comments (7)

Maya Di Casillas :

08 Sep 2013 5:05:05pm

Hello.

I would like to say that Media Watch has been 'watching' more and more politics rather than general media. What about sport, celebrities, film industry etc? Politics may be interesting to some people but definitely not to everyone. I for one only like to keep up to date with the general info on politics, just like everything else. Your show is not being watched by just elders, its also being watched by us teenagers too.

Glen Hannah :

04 Sep 2013 11:43:19am

One important point about the 3AW Rumour file is that it is a competition. You can go into the draw to win a Lexus if you contribute.Check the terms and conditions here.http://www.3aw.com.au/comp-winalexuswiththerumourfile

It doesn't have to be true or be fact checked. It just has to make it to air and be nominated "Caller of the Week" by 3AW radio staff.So it seems that you could very well win a nice car with an unsubstantiated rumour that is simply popular or funny and not true at all.

Mark :

jurgen :

03 Sep 2013 2:08:45pm

as to the veracity and reliability of newspapers, my late grandmother used to say: "Paper is patient!" referring to the fact that anything can be printed on it, without it necessarily being true. MInd you she was referring to Newspapers in Nazi Germany. Does that put the Murdoch press onto the same level as "Der Stürmer"?

aussimmo :

05 Sep 2013 3:52:35pm

Mark, as you say yourself the program is MEDIA Watch NOT Politics Watch. Please stay on subject.

Btw, 5 minutes later on Q&A, and on several occasions, Tony Jones did pull up the PM over the alleged 'black hole'. The so-called ABC bias is a myth, and compared to the propaganda campaign that Jones has been running, it's a massive joke. Jones' credibility was already on thin, dare I say melting ice, but in the last few weeks he has become a parody.

Vaughan Williams :

02 Sep 2013 10:26:16pm

The best bit, though, you didn't mention. After all the bluster about getting elected fraudulently, calls were invited. The first caller was proud of her multiple votes and her incitement to her family to do the same. Unashamedly admitted she voted Liberal!"Oh you're very naughty" chuckled Mr Jones.Happily not naughty enough to achieve her objective.